Smoking system and tobacco product thereof

ABSTRACT

A tobacco product comprising a mouthpiece and a cigarette stem. One extremity of the cigarette stem is connected to the mouthpiece. The cigarette stem has multiple tobacco segments connected in series. The tobacco segments include a tobacco material and a phase changing material. The phase changing material is provided in the tobacco material.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of smoking device,particularly relates to a smoking system and a smoking article thereof.

BACKGROUND

Conventional cigarettes have been in the mainstream of tobaccoconsumption for more than 100 years. With the change of people'slifestyle and consumption concepts, the rapid advancement of science andtechnology, and the continuous acceleration of the speed of commodityupgrading, the needs and concerns of tobacco consumers are constantlychanged. At the same time, influenced by factors such as tobacco controland public opinion, the development of conventional cigarettes has beenrestricted, and the emergence of new types of cigarettes has becomeinevitable.

Electric heating of low-temperature cigarettes is a low-temperaturecigarette that produces nicotine smoke by heating tobacco substanceswith electric power as a heat source. When conventional electricallyheated low-temperature cigarettes are smoked, the total particulatematter is lower during the initial puffs, but it tends to graduallyincrease until eventually, giving consumers a feeling of increasingsmoke intensity. When a conventional cigarette is smoked by a heatingchamber in an integrated heating manner, the smoke begins to beextremely weak and then increases rapidly, and then the amount of smokedecreases significantly as the number of suctions increases. This ismainly because it utilizes the previous puffs to reach the optimumtemperature, so that the tobacco article produces a high concentrationof aerosol, however, as the smoking progresses, the aerosol is depleted.Compared with conventional cigarettes, the released amount of smoke isuncontrollable, the sensory differences between the different number ofsuctions are large, and the sensory characteristics tend to be weakenedin the late stage of smoking.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, it is necessary to provide a smoking system and a smokingarticle thereof that have a relatively uniform released amount of smokeduring a smoking process.

A smoking article includes a mouthpiece and a cigarette rod. One end ofthe cigarette rod is connected to the mouthpiece. The cigarette rodincludes a plurality of tobacco segments connected sequentially. Thetobacco segment includes a tobacco material and a phase change materialdisposed in the tobacco material.

A smoking system includes a smoking device and the smoking article. Thesmoking device includes a heating pot. The heating pot includes aplurality of heating elements connected sequentially. Each of theheating elements is provided with a heating chamber. The heatingchambers of the plurality of heating elements form an accommodatingchamber configured to accommodate the smoking article. The plurality ofheating elements independently control temperature and heat sequentiallyin a direction from the insertion opening toward the air inlet hole. Thecigarette rod is inserted into the accommodating chamber, and theplurality of tobacco segments are in one-to-one correspondence with theplurality of heating elements.

The details of one or more embodiments of the disclosure are set forthin the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To illustrate the technical solutions according to the embodiments ofthe present invention or in the prior art more clearly, the accompanyingdrawings for describing the embodiments or the prior art are introducedbriefly in the following. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in thefollowing description are only some embodiments of the presentinvention, and persons of ordinary skill in the art can derive otherdrawings from the accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a smoking system according to anembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a smoking device in the smoking system ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a smoking article in the smoking system ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a smoking article of another embodiment ofthe smoking system of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a receptacle and a phase change materialin the smoking system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the invention are described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings. The various embodiments of theinvention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and shouldnot be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather,these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thoroughand complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. Elements that are identified using the same orsimilar reference characters refer to the same or similar elements.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The termsused herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments onlyand is not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, theterm “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items,

Referring to FIG. 1, a smoking system 10 according to an embodimentincludes a smoking device 100 and a smoking article 200. The smokingdevice 100 is used to heat the smoking article 200. The smoking device100 heats the smoking article 200 within a certain temperature range andcontrols the smoking article 200 to be non-combusting, so that thenicotine and part of the tobacco flavor constituent can be transferredto the smoke for smoking, which can greatly reduce the released amountof tar and harmful constituents.

Referring also to FIG. 2, the smoking device 100 includes a housing 120and a heating pot 140. The housing 120 is provided with a receivingchamber and an air inlet 122 in communication with the receivingchamber. The heating pot 140 is disposed in the receiving chamber. Theheating pot 140 includes a plurality of heating elements 142 that aresequentially connected. In one embodiment, the heating element 142 canbe a ceramic structure provided with a heating circuit. There may be 2to 15 heating elements 142. Each of the heating elements 142 is providedwith a heating chamber 142 a, and the heating chambers 142 a of theplurality of heating elements 142 form an accommodating chamber 144 foraccommodating the smoking article 200. Both ends of the accommodatingchamber 144 are provided with an insertion opening 146 for inserting thesmoking article 200 and an air inlet hole 148 in communication with theair inlet 122, respectively. The plurality of heating elements 142independently control temperature and sequentially heat the smokingarticle 200 in a direction from the insertion opening 146 towards theair inlet hole 148.

Referring also to FIG. 3, the smoking article 200 includes a mouthpiece240 and a cigarette rod 220. In one embodiment, the mouthpiece 240 maybe a filter. One end of the cigarette rod 220 is connected to themouthpiece 240. The cigarette rod 220 includes a plurality of tobaccosegments 242 that are sequentially connected. The tobacco segment 242includes a tobacco material 244 and a phase change material 246 disposedin the tobacco material 244. The cigarette rod 220 can be inserted intothe accommodating chamber 144, and the plurality of tobacco segments 242are in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of heating elements142.

The plurality of tobacco segments 242 of the smoking article 200, incooperation with the heating pot 140 having the plurality of heatingelements 142 independently controlling temperature, facilitatescontrolling the temperature of the different tobacco segments 242. Sincethe plurality of heating elements 142 independently control thetemperature and sequentially heat from the insertion opening 146 towardsthe air inlet hole 148, the plurality of tobacco segments 242 of thesmoking article 200 may be sequentially heated in a direction from oneend adjacent to the mouthpiece 240 towards the other end away from themouthpiece 240. The high-concentration aerosol produced during theoverall heating is avoided, and the released amount of smoke during thesmoking process is relatively uniform, thereby balancing the sensorydifference between the different number of suctions and improving theconsistency of the smoke taste. Since the phase change material 246absorbs or releases a large amount of heat during a phase changeprocess, it is possible to delay the heating and cooling and prevent thetemperature from increasing or decreasing too fast, thereby bettercontrolling the temperature of the smoking article 200.

In addition, if the heating sequence of the heating pot 140 to thesmoking article 200 is reversed from that of the present embodiment,that is, the smoking article 200 is sequentially heated in a directionfrom the smoking article 200 towards the mouthpiece 240, since the gasstream flowing through the heated tobacco segment 242 has a highertemperature, the gas stream heats the tobacco segment 242 that flowslater, resulting in a part of the smoke constituent in the unheatedtobacco segment 242 being sublimated or the smoke constituent having alower decomposition temperature being released. Therefore, the part ofthe smoke constituent in the tobacco segment 242 heated later is passedaway in advance, resulting in inconsistent smoke taste when thedifferent tobacco segments 242 are heated. Moreover, heating theunheated portion of the cigarette too early may result in the venerationof a part of smoke or the thermal degradation of the portion of thecigarette due to heat, thereby changing its own quality. Reheating thepreviously heated portion may result in an unpleasant odor or harmfulconstituent. In the present embodiment, in a manner from one endadjacent to the mouthpiece 240 towards the other end away from themouthpiece 240, the heated gas stream can be prevented from flowingthrough the unheated tobacco segment 242, thereby avoiding theaforementioned problems of inconsistencies in the smoke taste andcausing unpleasant odor or harmful constituents.

In one of the embodiments, the smoking article 200 further includes aheat insulation layer 260 located between two adjacent tobacco segments242 to avoid heat conduction and interaction between the tobaccosegments 242. In addition, in one embodiment, the heat insulation layer260 may also be located between the mouthpiece 240 and the tobaccosegment 242 connected to the mouthpiece 240 to prevent heat from beingconducted to the mouthpiece 240. Referring also to FIG. 4, in anotherembodiment, the adjacent tobacco segments 242 may be directly connectedwithout providing the heat insulation layer 260, which can also achievethe effect of increasing the consistency of the smoke taste and preventthe temperature from increasing or decreasing too fast.

The phase change material 246 includes a solid-solid phase changematerial and a solid-liquid phase change material, and the phase changematerial 246 has a phase change temperature of 200° C. to 500° C.,preferably 240° C. to 350C. Regarding the solid-liquid phase changematerials, in order to prevent the phase change material 246 from beingdrawn into the oral cavity after melting, and referring also to FIG. 5,in one embodiment, the smoking article 200 may further include areceptacle 280 for accommodating the phase change material 246. Thephase change material 246 is located in the receptacle 280. In addition,the receptacle 280 is made of a heat conductive material having amelting point generally greater than or equal to 500° C. The meltingpoint of the receptacle 280 needs to be higher than the heatingtemperature of the heating element 142. The heating temperature of theheating element 142 generally ranges front 200° C. to 500° C. Thenicotine and most tobacco flavoring constituents can be transferred tothe smoke at a temperature of 200° C. to 500° C., and excessivetemperatures can easily produce harmful gases or ignite the smokingarticle 200. Moreover, in one embodiment, the heating temperature of theheating element 142 generally ranges from 200° C. to 350° C. The lowertemperature control, on the one hand, facilitates safe control andavoids scalding. On the other hand, nicotine and tobacco flavoringconstituents can be released at a relatively smooth rate, and the tasteof smoking is better.

In one embodiment, the receptacle 280 is made of aluminum foil. Thereceptacle 280 has good heat conductivity to facilitate heathomogenization within the tobacco segment 242. The shape of thereceptacle 280 may be similar to a capsule, and the phase changematerial 246 is enclosed in the receptacle 280. In one embodiment, thereare a plurality of receptacles 280, and the plurality of receptacles 280are uniformly distributed in the tobacco material 244 of each of thetobacco segments 242, which is more advantageous for heat homogenizationwithin the tobacco segment 242.

The phase change material 246 may be in a form of particle, filament, orthe like. In one embodiment, the phase change material 246 has asolid-liquid phase change temperature of 200° C. to 500° C. When theheating element 142 heats the phase change material 246 to thesolid-liquid phase change temperature, the phase change material 246melts, and the phase change material 246 absorbs a large amount of heatduring the phase change process, thereby preventing the temperature fromincreasing too fast. When the temperature of the phase change material246 is less than the solid-liquid phase change temperature, the phasechange material 246 solidifies, and the phase change material 246releases a large amount of heat during the phase change process, therebypreventing the temperature from decreasing too fast. In one embodiment,the phase change temperature of the phase change material 246 may alsobe selected between 240° C. to 350° C. For example, the phase changematerial 246 may be, for example, sodium nitrate NaNO₃.

In one of the embodiments, constituents of the tobacco materials 244 inthe plurality of tobacco segments 242 are different. The constituent ofeach of the tobacco segments 242 may be adjusted as desired to provide abetter taste. For example, different tobacco segments 242 employdifferent types of tobacco materials 244 to change the taste and flavorduring the smoking process, thereby enriching the smoking experience. Inone embodiment, a proportion of a tobacco constituent contained in thetobacco material 244 in the plurality of tobacco segments 242 capable ofproducing a smoke constituent having a lower decomposition temperaturegradually decreases in a direction from one end of the cigarette rod 220adjacent to the mouthpiece 240 towards the other end thereof away fromthe mouthpiece 240. Since the smoke produced from the tobacco segment242 away from the mouthpiece 240 flows through the tobacco segment 242adjacent to the mouthpiece 240, although the tobacco segment 242adjacent to the mouthpiece 240 has already released the smoke, a smallamount of low-temperature decomposition smoke is still released when asubsequent smoke with a certain amount of heat enters. Therefore, theproportion of the constituent gradually decrease in a direction from oneend adjacent to the mouthpiece 240 towards the other end away from themouthpiece 240, which is more conducive to improving the consistency ofthe smoke taste.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, in one of the embodiments, the smokingdevice 100 generally further includes a power supply assembly 160 thatsupplies power to the heating pot 140, which may be connected to thehousing 120 outside the housing 120. In other embodiments, the powersupply assembly 160 may also be located inside the housing 120.Alternatively, the smoking device 100 itself does not have the powersupply assembly 160, and the smoking device 100 is detachably connectedto the external power supply assembly 160 to supply power to the heatingpot 140.

In order to more accurately control and monitor the temperature of theheating pot 140, in one of the embodiments, the heating pot 140 furtherincludes a plurality of temperature sensors 152. At least onetemperature sensor 152 is disposed on each of the heating elements 142.In one embodiment, the heating pot 140 also includes a heat insulationwasher 154 located between the adjacent heating elements 142 to avoidheat conduction and interaction between the heating elements 142.

In one embodiment, the smoking device 100 may further include acontroller disposed in the receiving chamber to control the independentpower supply to the plurality of heating elements 142. The temperaturesensor 152 may be communicatively coupled to the controller, and thecontroller may control the power supply to the heating element 142 inaccordance with the temperature measured by the temperature sensor 152to more accurately adjust the temperature of the heating element 142.

In one of the embodiments, a preheating passage 156 is formed between aninner wall of the housing 120 and an outer wall of the heating pot 140.One end of the preheating passage 156 is in communication with the airinlet 122, and the other end thereof is in communication with the airinlet hole 148. When using the smoking article 200, the external airenters the preheating passage 156 through the air inlet 122, ispreheated by the outer wall of the heating pot 140, and enters theaccommodating chamber 144 through the air inlet hole 148 to enter thesmoking article 200. The preheating passage 156 is designed so that, onthe one hand, the temperature of the outer wall of the heating pot 140can be reduced, thereby reducing the temperature of the housing 120 andpreventing scalding, on the other hand, the heat of the heating pot 140can be efficiently utilized to avoid energy waste.

In one embodiment, the housing 120 has a circular tubular shape, and theheating element 142 can also have a circular tubular shape. The smokingarticle 200 may be heated more uniformly, and the air inlet 122 and theinsertion opening 146 both located at an opening at one end of thehousing 120. In addition, in an embodiment in Which the smoking device100 is provided with the power supply assembly 160, the power supplyassembly 160 may be located at the other end of the housing 120, and theoverall arrangement is more reasonable and convenient for holding andusing.

Although the respective embodiments have been described one by one, itshall be appreciated that the respective embodiments will not beisolated. Those skilled in the art can apparently appreciate uponreading the disclosure of this application that the respective technicalfeatures involved in the respective embodiments can be combinedarbitrarily between the respective embodiments as long as they have nocollision with each other. Of course, the respective technical featuresmentioned in the same embodiment can also be combined arbitrarily aslong as they have no collision with each other.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein withreference to specific embodiments, the invention is not intended to belimited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be madein the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claimsand without departing from the invention.

1. A smoking article, comprising: a mouthpiece, and a cigarette rod, oneend of the cigarette rod being connected to the mouthpiece, thecigarette rod comprising a plurality of tobacco segments connectedsequentially, the tobacco segment comprising a tobacco material and aphase change material disposed in the tobacco material.
 2. The smokingarticle of claim 1, wherein the phase change material is a solid-solidphase change material or a solid-liquid phase change material.
 3. Thesmoking article of claim 1, further comprising a receptacleaccommodating the phase change material, the phase change material beinga solid-liquid phase change material and located in the receptacle, andthe receptacle being made of a heat conductive material having a meltingpoint greater than or equal to 500° C.
 4. The smoking article of claim3, wherein the receptacle is made of aluminum foil.
 5. The smokingarticle of claim 3, wherein a plurality of receptacles are uniformlydistributed in the tobacco material of each of the tobacco segments. 6.The smoking article of claim 3, wherein the receptacle is made of a heatconductive material having a melting point greater than or equal to 500°C.
 7. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the phase change materialhas a solid-liquid phase change temperature of 200° C. to 500° C.
 8. Thesmoking article of claim 7, wherein the phase change material has asolid-liquid phase change temperature of 240° C. to 350° C.
 9. Thesmoking article of claim 1, wherein constituents of the tobaccomaterials in the plurality of tobacco segments are different.
 10. Thesmoking article of claim 9, wherein a proportion of a tobaccoconstituent contained in the tobacco material in the plurality oftobacco segments capable of producing a smoke constituent having a lowerdecomposition temperature gradually decreases in a direction from oneend of the cigarette rod adjacent to the mouthpiece towards the otherend thereof away from the mouthpiece.
 11. The smoking article of claim1, further comprising a heat insulation layer located between twoadjacent tobacco segments.
 12. The smoking article of claim 11, whereinthe heat insulation layer is further located between the mouthpiece andthe tobacco segment connected to the mouthpiece.
 13. The smoking articleof claim 1, wherein the mouthpiece is a filter.
 14. The smoking articleof claim 1, wherein the phase change material is sodium nitrate.
 15. Thesmoking article of claim 1, wherein the phase change material is in aform of particle or filament.
 16. A smoking system, comprising: asmoking device comprising a heating pot, the heating pot comprising aplurality of heating elements connected sequentially, each of theheating elements being provided with a heating chamber, the heatingchambers of the plurality of heating elements forming an accommodatingchamber configured to accommodate a smoking article, the plurality ofheating elements independently controlling temperature and heatingsequentially in a direction from an insertion opening, towards an airinlet hole; and a smoking article, the smoking article comprising: amouthpiece, and a cigarette rod, one end of the cigarette rod beingconnected to the mouthpiece, the cigarette rod comprising a plurality oftobacco segments connected sequentially, the tobacco segment comprisinga tobacco material and a phase change material disposed in the tobaccomaterial; wherein the cigarette rod is inserted into the accommodatingchamber, and the plurality of tobacco segments are in one-to-onecorrespondence with the plurality of heating elements.